Bilateral Course (4)

Hemispheric Assessment

These tests are used for two purposes. Firstly as a cross-check on pencil and paper intelligence and personality tests, which are essentially a test of a client's static characteristics and secondly, to make a dynamic test to ascertain the possible reactions of a client, when he is actually working on analysis procedures.

GSR Arousal Tests

1. Static arousal (the resting level of arousal). This is the typical level of arousal exhibited by the client, one minute or more (to allow the electrodes to warm up) after attaching him to the meter and switching on. This is done before you ask him to do a thinking task.

2. Dynamic arousal. How arousal changes when the client is asked to perform a particular task.

Procedure to measure Static Arousal:

To do this test you will require a GSR Meter, a pen and paper. All results should be written down (see the assessment questions accompanying the General Assessment).

1. Test the GSR Meter is working by pushing the battery test button.
2. Switch the GSR Meter on.
3. Check the client has washed his or her hands, as this will effect the accuracy of the reading.
4. Check the client has no rings or ornaments on his hands. To short circuit the meter may cause damage.
5. Give the client both of the electrodes.
6. Wait one minute to allow the electrodes to reach body temperature.
7. Use the Balance Control to bring the needle to the Set point.
8. Ask the client to squeeze the electrodes and note how far the needle moves to the right. Adjust the Sensitivity accordingly
9. Write down the figure indicated by the Balance Control. This is the Static or resting level of arousal: you will need this for later parts of the assessment.

Procedure to measure Dynamic Arousal:

1. Having noted the Static level of arousal re-Set the GSR Meter for the following test.

2. Ask the client to concentrate on his heartbeat, and note the following:

a) Delay before the needle moves.
b) Direction and distance the needle moves.
c) How fast the needle moves.
d) If the needle moves far enough to go beyond the end of the dial, so you haveto re-balance the Meter, i.e. a Balance Drop or BD.

3. Ask the client to look at something in the room. A small, brightly colored object is best for this purpose. Now note the following:

a) Delay before the needle moves.
b) Direction and distance the needle moves.
c) How fast the needle moves.
d) Any BD.

4. Note the relative amount of movement between internal concentration and external concentration. For example: concentrating on heartbeat: half a face; concentrating on an object: three quarters of a face; ratio between internal and external is one-and-a-half to one. Note: If the meter makes the larger relative response when a client concentrates externally, this is an indication that this client needs to be extraverted.

Repeat the tests for internal and external concentration, comparing the relative delay, length and speed of the needle's response. When you have sufficient practice, these things can be done all at once. In the beginning the tests must be repeated until all the necessary information has been collected. If the above Dynamic Arousal test is not mastered to the point it can be done effortlessly, mistakes are easily made on the following Hemispheric Assessment.

Hemispheric Balance and Mobility Tests

(i). Does one hemisphere always dominate when a client performs a mental act, irrespective of the nature of that act?
(ii). The quantity of mobility: How far does the client move the needle?

The Procedure to measure Hemispheric Balance

To do this assessment you will require a Bilateral Meter, a pen and paper. Again, all results should be written down.

1. Test the Bilateral Meter is working by pushing the Battery test button. To find you are using a dead Meter half way through the test, it can be very embarrassing and may cause the client to lose confidence in you, the method or both.

2. Switch the Meter on.

3. Make sure the client is holding the right hand electrode in his right hand and the left hand electrode in his left hand. This is the most frequent mistake and may lead to great confusion. The electrodes should also be held in the correct direction, with the forefinger at the top end of the electrode (the end from which the leads trail). The electrodes and their jack-plugs should be marked, such as by the use of a distinguishing cable color or label, to aid immediate identification.

4. Wait the usual minute or so for the electrodes to warm up. Failure to do this leads to some strange readings.

5. Use the manual re-set button to balance the Meter, so the needle points to the center of the dial.

6. Set the Sensitivity control to the position determined on the GSR Meter.

7. Ask the client to squeeze the left-hand electrode (which corresponds to the right hemisphere), and check that this causes the needle to move to the right of the dial. Similarly check the right-hand electrode (the left hemisphere) gives a read to the left.

8. Sometimes, with a client who has a great deal of mobility, you will have trouble using a higher Sensitivity setting, so reduce the Sensitivity. This type of client is usually a fast client anyway, with clear reads, so it does not matter that you have lost some sensitivity of the needle.

9. Re-balance the meter so the needle is in the center of the dial. Write this figure down: this is the client's resting Balance Point.

The Procedure to Measure Hemispheric Mobility

1. To test how the right hemisphere is functioning (a movement of the needle to the right), the client must be given some tasks of sensual imagination: one for each major sense. Examples are set out below:

a) Visualise children in a playground.
b) Hear the sound of a trumpet playing.
c) Imagine the taste of an egg.
d) Imagine the smell of petrol.
e) Imagine the feel of fur.

f) Imagine yourself going through the motions of sitting down in a chair.

[Note: a slowly moving and sometimes jerky cognitive read indicates effort is required to overcome emotional resistance and counter-intention.]

3. After each task note and write down the following:

a) The direction of needle movement.
b) The amount of needle movement.
c) The delay before the needle moves.
d) The speed with which the needle moves.

4. To test the left hemisphere, (a movement to the left of the dial indicates the left hemisphere is working) symbolic, verbal and numerical tasks must be given. Choose your own examples, which take account of the client's IQ. The approximate IQ (speed of mental processing) of the client can be judged by his response time in the GSR Arousal tests. 0.2 sec would correspond to high IQ, 0.5 sec would be average IQ, and 1.0 second would be low IQ. If the tasks chosen are too simple, the needle will not move; or if they are too complex for the client to compute, the Meter response will be a back-off, and the needle will go all over the dial. Examples are given below:

a) A simple question of reasoning from one of the IQ tests.
b) To go through a verse of a poem in inner speech.
c) To go through one of the times tables. Choose a table above the six times table, the lower tables are too easy to give a clear indication on the Meter.
d) If you have a high IQ client (above 130) give him or her a problem in mental arithmetic. Write out the question and be sure you know the answer.
e) Ask for an opinion about politics or religion ('Tell me what you think about...').
f) Ask for a scientific explanation ('Explain how...')..
g) Ask for, say, the 15th letter of the alphabet, or 7th letter of September.

5. After each task note and write down the following:

a) The direction of needle movement.
b) The amount of needle movement.
c) The delay before the needle moves.
d) The speed with which the needle moves.

Appraisal of GSR Meter Arousal Tests

a) A high BP (above 3.4) suggests that the resting attention of the client is more outside than in.

b) A low Balance Point (below 2.4) suggests the client has an introspective nature.

c) A reading above 5.0 suggests limited self awareness, he is 'not-there'. But be sure that the other reasons for a high BP are not causing a distortion of your assessment, such as tiredness, a cold room, very dry or calloused hands, etc. With a new client, check for involvement with hypnosis or drugs.

d) A reading below 2 suggests a high degree of introversion, directed towards an aspect of case that is felt to be overwhelming. This is often a fear. Tactfully ask about personal problems. A new client may be trying to enter therapy as a form of escape, or there may be things he is scared may be found out. You can be sure he is running away from something.

e) A reading between 2 & 4.5 should be no barrier to successful analysis.

Appraisal of Dynamic Arousal tests

1. If the needle moves there is some control of arousal.

2. If the needle does not move, the client will not move in therapy. He has problems much nearer home. Ask him if he takes tranquillisers and to return in a month when he has stopped taking them!

3. Which direction does the needle move, when the client is asked to do something mentally or answer a question?

a) If the needle moves to the right (Fall) you are OK.
b) If the needle moves to the left (Rise) you have got a problem. The needle moving to the left indicates BACK OFF. In this case why is he backing off? Either neurosis, or, he is deliberately doing the opposite to what you tell him.
c) A long delay in meter response will tell you the client may have problems to do with disconnection of mind and body. This problem often disappears when the client receives help with his most pressing problems.

4. Some clients will move the Meter needle further when they internalize their attention, others will move the Meter needle further when they put their attention externally. A client who cannot internalize his attention, and who therefore has a large read as he attempts to do so, will have problems with the introspection required for analysis. This may be the result of over-reactivation as a result of previous therapy. Inability to introspect may also be the result of extreme social conditioning and very rigid parents.

5 Alternatively, if a client causes a large change in arousal (more than one BP division) when he tries to extravert his attention, this is a bad indicator. He will have little reality on the practitioner or the practitioner's commands, because he is too introverted to communicate. He will require objective procedures, to get him fully back in touch with reality, before continuing further.

6. The measurements of Static and Dynamic Arousal may be contra-indicative. For example, a client may have a Balance Point indicating introversion, but not be able to further introvert, as indicated by a large read on internalizing his attention.

7. A client with very high background arousal( lower than 2) will sometimes give reverse readings on the Bilateral Meter; for the appropriate hemisphere to operate, he has to lower arousal, whereas, a client with Static Arousal in the normal ranges has to increase the arousal in a particular hemisphere to make that hemisphere operate.

Appraisal of Hemispheric Balance

The Bilateral Meter measures hemispheric balance, irrespective of the level of general arousal. Most people balance on the Bilateral Meter between moderate left or right deviations. People who balance significantly to the left tend to be left-brain dominant and those who balance significantly to the right tend to be right-brain dominant. People continually in the extreme ranges, however, have always got problems.

The Bilateral Meter was originally developed for osteopathic purposes and only later was it found to be useful for personal development. Therefore, if a person is in one of the extreme ranges you have good reason to believe they may have some damage to the spine, and the client would be well advised to have an osteopathic check-up. If the client, on returning from the osteopath, still shows a severe imbalance only then should you suspect psychopathology. In these cases it may again be organic: epilepsy, stroke, etc. It should therefore be indicated to the client that there is something that should be checked out by a doctor.

Appraisal of Hemispheric Mobility

In subjects with low to medium Static Arousal, increased arousal in a particular hemisphere indicates that the hemisphere is performing the requested function. In subjects with high Static Arousal (below 2) the reverse may be true, because arousal in the hemisphere in question is already too high, so to function appropriately, arousal must be lowered.

There are three ways in which the needle will respond when you ask the client to perform a mental act:

a) Movement in the appropriate direction for a particular act, e.g. to the left if the client is asked to do mental arithmetic.

b) Movement in the opposite direction. If a client is found to have reversed brain functions in all modalities (he or she may or may not be left-handed) then the electrodes should be reversed, so the meter reads in the conventional way.

Note: when the meter moves in the opposite direction because there is a maladaptive response, the response will often be instant, rather than delayed. This indicates the malfunction has its origin at the sub-cognitive level. The correct hemisphere cannot be selected to perform the task at hand, because of traumatic experiences.

c) The movement of the needle may be random. This indicates no specialization between the hemispheres and is not a good sign. This is slightly more common among women. When this occurs, a prospective client should be sent to a Neurologist if brain damage is suspected.

A long delay (more than 1.2 seconds) before the needle starts to move indicates problems to do with mind-body detachment. A delay of greater than 1.5 seconds would suggest that the client is unsuitable for a course of personal development without remedial work by a specialist.

Personality Mapping

The map derived from these two dimensions is similar in many ways to the model of personality and mental pathology postulated by C.G. Jung. The small central square in the diagram represents what we call the 'Ideal Range of Readings': a range of rational response; outside of this area responses become neurotic and at the extreme, psychotic. If the techniques used in analysis have been effective, a client's readings should fall within the square, in which case the client may approach advanced techniques with a reasonable expectation of success.

The medium sized square represents the normal range of personality according to the Jungian Model, and the terms are defined as follows:

1. Phlegmatic = Thinking Introvert.

2. Melancholic = Feeling Introvert or Intuitive Type.

3. Sanguine = Thinking Extravert.

4. Choleric = Feeling Extravert or Sensation Type.

The large square represents the pathological ranges of personality. The difference between the pathological states and the normal states is a difference of degree; one state shades imperceptibly into the other. A normal person is likely to have certain aspects of his case which when reactivated would cause such neurotic or psychotic readings.

The oval marked A represents the access a hypothetical client may have to a range of personality or consciousness states: the range of arousal and hemispheric mobility which is under the person's conscious control. The tandem arrangement of GSR and Bilateral Meters is able to show both axes simultaneously, thus presenting a dynamic display of these factors.